As Christian, I have to face the real situation of our church, and this is one of the best examples that make me feel away from the general line of the Vatican.

I believe in Jesus Church, that church which is spread over the world taking care of the sick people, giving food and medicines in the third world, or just helping the poor people inside the most developed countries (for instance, in mine, Spain, you will find social centers to take care of disadvantaged.

Personally, I think first of all that the rape has no excuse, and if we are talking about a nine years old girl, it's worst, because she has no way to defend herself. The paper of the Church on this matter should be to help the girl just to go on with her life, giving her the medical attention she may need, and NEVER to see her as a guilty.

A nine years old girl is only that, a girl, and she has to be supported by the whole society on this trouble.

I believe this forum was created for the purpose of exchanging ideas, peaceful interaction, the sharing of culture and beliefs. It has instead become a place where we, the hosts, are under constant sniper attack and are accused of being unhospitable and not "being Muslim" when we shoot back. Well, every once in a while it's nice to take the target off of your own back...

Assalamualaikum sis Shasta's Aunt

Did you realize that on the first page of this section alone, there are more topics by non-Muslims than by Muslims alone?

I have no doubt that they have a concerted effort to belittle Islam or Muslims in an indirect way. They are constantly on attack mode towards Islam and Muslims. This is one of their strategy. They have an army of people like Apollo or Believer who I think are not here for the sake of Truth, but paid by some organizations that would like to defame Islam.

These people will come and go because at a certain point, they will get fed up due to the thick armour of defence that we Muslims had prepared. And others will take over from where they left or will start all over again.

We have nothing to be afraid of because we have Allah Al-Haqq - The Truth!

By Mohammed Jamjoom(CNN) -- A Saudi judge has refused for a second time to annul a marriage between an 8-year-old girl and a 47-year-old man, a relative of the girl told CNN.

The most recent ruling, in which the judge upheld his original verdict, was handed down Saturday in the Saudi city of Onaiza, where late last year the same judge rejected a petition from the girl's mother, who was seeking a divorce for her daughter.

The relative said the judge, Sheikh Habib Al-Habib, "stuck by his earlier verdict and insisted that the girl could petition the court for a divorce once she reached puberty." The family member, who requested anonymity, added that the mother will continue to pursue a divorce for her daughter.

The case, which has drawn criticism from local and international rights groups, came to light in December when al-Habib declined to annul the marriage on a legal technicality. The judge ruled the girl's mother -- who is separated from the girl's father -- was not the girl's legal guardian and therefore could not represent her in court, according to Abdullah al-Jutaili, the mother's lawyer.

The girl's father, according to the attorney, arranged the marriage in order to settle his debts with the man, who is "a close friend" of his. At the time of the initial verdict, the judge required the girl's husband to sign a pledge that he would not have sex with her until she reaches puberty, al-Jutaili told CNN. The judge ruled that when the girl reaches puberty, she will have the right to request a divorce by filing a petition with the court, the lawyer said.

Last month, an appeals court in the Saudi capital of Riyadh declined to certify the original ruling, in essence rejecting al-Habib's verdict, and sent the case back to al-Habib for reconsideration.

Under the complicated Saudi legal process, the appeals court ruling meant that the marriage was still in effect, but that a challenge to the marriage was still ongoing. The appeals court in Riyadh will now take up the case again and a hearing is scheduled for next month, according to the relative.

The issue of child marriage has been a hot-button topic in the deeply conservative kingdom recently. While rights groups have been petitioning the government to enact laws that would protect children from this type of marriage, the kingdom's top cleric has said that it's OK for girls as young as 10 to wed.

"It is incorrect to say that it's not permitted to marry off girls who are 15 and younger," Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh, the kingdom's grand mufti, said in remarks last January quoted in the regional Al-Hayat newspaper. "A girl aged 10 or 12 can be married. Those who think she's too young are wrong and they are being unfair to her."

Al-Sheikh reportedly made the remarks when he was asked during a lecture about parents forcing their underage daughters to marry.

"We hear a lot in the media about the marriage of underage girls," he said, according to the newspaper. "We should know that Sharia law has not brought injustice to women."

Sharia law is Islamic law. Saudi Arabia follows a strict interpretation of Islam called Wahhabism.

CNN was unable to reach government officials for comment.

Christoph Wilcke, a Saudi Arabia researcher for Human Rights Watch, told CNN in December that his organization has heard of many other cases of child marriages.

"We've been hearing about these types of cases once every four or five months because the Saudi public is now able to express this kind of anger -- especially so when girls are traded off to older men," Wilcke said.

Wilcke explained that while Saudi ministries may make decisions designed to protect children, "It is still the religious establishment that holds sway in the courts, and in many realms beyond the court."

Last December, Zuhair al-Harithi, a spokesman for the Saudi government-run Human Rights Commission, said his organization is fighting against child marriages.

"The Human Rights Commission opposes child marriages in Saudi Arabia," al-Harithi said. "Child marriages violate international agreements that have been signed by Saudi Arabia and should not be allowed." He added that his organization has been able to intervene and stop at least one child marriage from taking place.

Wajeha al-Huwaider, co-founder of the Society of Defending Women's Rights in Saudi Arabia, told CNN that achieving human rights in the kingdom means standing against those who want to "keep us backward and in the dark ages."

She said the marriages cause girls to "lose their sense of security and safety. Also, it destroys their feeling of being loved and nurtured. It causes them a lifetime of psychological problems and severe depression."

John 3
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

We were speaking of priests who are supposed to be a man of God. But instead they had abused their power and many lives of innocent children were affected physically and spiritually.

The reason why this happened is because Christianity is a man-made religion. The idea of priests not allowed to have sex, is totally contradictory to man's nature. God Almighty knows that sex is part of a human's need. In Islam, if circumstances permit, the man could even have 4 wives. And indeed how true it is. There are many non-Muslim men who have one legal wife and at least another illegal one by fornication for example.

To deprive a man of his natural sexual desire is paramount to torture. I pity these people. There were/are many Muslim scholars, past and present who succeed spiritually at the same time having families of their own.

A True God is a God that knows what is best for His servants. Because He is Al-Aleem - MOST KNOWING.

You are generalising again Nur. It is only within Roman Catholicism that celibacy was made mandatory for Roman Catholic priests. The Eastern Orthodox do allow their clerics to marry, as does the Church of England, and many others. It is about power, most of it for sure - and controlling people by abusing that power. It is not natural to demand people cannot share intimacy, have sexual relations with those they love.

Not all people need sex. A lot of people can and do live perfectly well as celibates. We're not all sex mad horn balls who can't master our baser passions ;-) lol Women are not the demure litte creatures you'd have us believe in matters of sex. Women are often as bad, and worse than men in matters of sexuality. Didn't you know the place is coming down with nymphettes.

All those men with umpteen wives and harlots in the closets. Do they love them all, or is it more about the sex lives of the men ? Be very hard to love four people equally. And for four women to be happy sharing their man. And what's with the sex addicts paradise ? Not that I believe that is what the Qu'ran speaks about at all. But some do interpret it that way. Sounds worse than Sodom and Gomorrah.

You need to learn more about Christianity Nur, fore you try and make the kinds of generalised claims you do. You only make yourself sound foolish and I was beginning to believe you knew what you were talking about.

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